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Mid Suffolk Offers New Arrivals a Tree for Life

Families in Mid Suffolk welcoming a new arrival, whether a new born or by adoption, are being offered the opportunity to plant a tree to celebrate their new child.

New parents who live in Mid Suffolk are being invited to apply for one year pilot of a Tree for Life scheme, offering parents a chance to plant a tree in the district to mark the arrival of new family members. The scheme aims to encourage the planting of trees and promote the benefits which trees bring to communities.

The trees can be planted in the family’s garden, including in those of council tenants. However those who do not have a garden are also welcome to apply, with council officers ready to provide details of suitable community orchards where the child’s tree may be planted instead, or they may be planted in the gardens of grandparents who live in Mid Suffolk, or potentially at the parents’ place of work, child’s nursery or local school as well, if the property owners agree.

Any tree gifted as part of the scheme must be planted within the Mid Suffolk district.

This scheme covers trees for both new born and newly adopted children, with all families who received a new member between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2018 welcome to apply.

Applications for a Tree for Life must be submitted by 7 January 2019, with planting due to take place in January, which offers the best time to plant trees.

During the November to January period Mid Suffolk will run two events at which families can collect their trees and learn more about how to plant and maintain them. At these events families can learn about the scheme, what trees are available and how they will be planted, with activities planned for older brothers and sisters at the event as well. Details of these events will be sent to applicants to the scheme.

Cllr David Burn, Mid Suffolk District Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “Across the world people are becoming more and more aware of their duty to invest in and leave a green, healthy and richer environment to our children. With this pilot scheme we aim to help families take the first step, by celebrating new life in their families with new life in their gardens. For parents, having children focuses people’s thinking on the future. Planting trees is an act for the long term, and families should remember: the tree that marks their children’s birth may one day be the tree in which their grandchildren learn to climb and potentially one which will bear fruit for the kitchen table.”